Synergic Scandinavian

[Malaxo 5]

Greetings to all fellow Renotalkers! I have been a curious reader for the past 3 months, absorbing any and every advice given in this community. Me and my missus have purchased a 4A Resale flat after 5 failed attempts at BTO/SBF.

After deciding to look into the resale market, we listed down our criteria for our home:

1) High Floor

2) Corner Unit

3) Must have storeroom (to stash away all our chapalan stuff)

4) North-South facing

5) Fits our budget

After looking through many units around my parent's area, we finally saw one which fit our criteria (4/5). Although this is not a corner unit, we loved the view. That feeling in your gut that says "THIS IS THE ONE" once you step foot into the unit.

">http://www.renotalk.com/forum/gallery/image/12621-floor-plan/]

We exercised our option late in October and fast forward, we collected our keys today! Excited to finally have our own place to call HOME!

Next up: ID/Contractor Selection

[huiamos 6]

Congrats Malaxo! I'm also waiting to completion for my resale in March.

[Malaxo 5]

Like many first time owners, our source of inspiration came from Pinterest. We scoured Pinterest and looked up  to shortlist the IDs to meet up. With curious hearts and enthusiastic minds, we met up with the IDs.

K*** ID:

We met up with this firm as they did up my friend's place. L was a busy man, mainly coordinating commercial projects. I requested for him and was directed to their in-house designer, C. As C was from Hong Kong, she had ample suggestions on space planning to maximize our area. I was quite impressed by her creativity to take down one of the walls and use the back of the built in wardrobe as a feature wall. However, the quotation came up to almost 70k!! Spoke to L about this and asked him to review the quote and was told that the designer had overcharged us and that she was only staying till the end of the month. NOT IMPRESSED! Why would you direct me to someone who could not handle my whole project! L went up to the unit and made some measurements and came back with a second quote which came up to 54k. I felt that I had to lead in this project and could not trust them entirely with my home. Rejected.

D***** C*******:

We loved their grasp on scandinavian design and was blown away by their designs on ! We looked up reviews and contacted G. After speaking on the phone, we waited 1 week for quotation...but it never came. Followed up with G again on the 2nd week and was told to email him my requirements. He responded quickly and said that the quotation will be prepared and he will arrange for a 1st appointment. Never heard from him since. Rejected.

S**** D***** I*******:

We shortlisted this firm and looked for D upon reading reviews. Met up at their showroom and the first impression was that he had a lot of experience in this field. However, he wasn't attentive to our requirements as he had his idea of how scandinavian design should be and kept showing us pictures of his own home which he infused a touch of oriental with. Upon hearing our budget of 40k for our resale flat, he said that with 40k, we cannot get anything done as a BTO flat nowadays would already require 40k. RUDE MUCH. After leaving, we never heard back from him for the quotation after several prompts. Rejected.

U**** ID:

Was looking at  one afternoon and accidentally browsed through their profile. I have no idea which project caught my attention but when i mentioned them to le wifey, she was hesitant as by this time, it became quite time consuming and tiresome to meet up with IDs and repeat the same process again. Nevertheless, we went ahead to meet up with K & S since I had already made an appointment with them. Boy oh boy were we in for a ride! Like finding a gem! Upon first impression, you could see that K&S were very artistic and had a great sense of style. You could feel the camaraderie they both had and when one speaks, the other listens. They complimented each other very well and we made a second appointment for the following week. We were excited as we really clicked well with them and eagerly waited for the week to pass. Second appointment day, the table was filled with our moodboard!! They hand drawn the kitchen and masterbedroom and attached photos of what they feel would enhance the appeal of the house. Even the laminate colors were pasted on the moodboard! Impression . We were happy until we saw the quotation, came up to 60+k. Despite the price, we were very impressed by them and requested for site visitation to see their works.

From the site visit, you could tell that their attention to detail was superb! Quality of the carpentry was also good. In the end, we had to eliminate them due to the pricing

J&E:

This duo needs no introduction in the renotalk world. The famed duo that had rave reviews and I managed to get the contact from lovescandi. KUDOS TO YOU! We met up at the resale flat and they got to taking measurements up down left right. Suggesting some space planning tips and recommending the ideal length of our wardrobe. I love how they took into consideration the space if we decide to upgrade our bed to King size in the future. Quotation came in after a few days and it exceeded our budget by 5k. Met up with E again for further discussion on the quote and when he went back, he told me he forgot to include my hacking cost into his first quotation!! I trust that it was an oversight on his part as I know that they are VERY busy with MANY projects. After adding more stuffs, our final quotation came to 50k and for the amount of overhaul required, I would say that it is fair. E brought us to a few projects of his in the North East and I believe that one of the projects is dadajunior's! That brown Fino Vento fan. *Drools*.

E also mentioned that they are not yet HDB registered and plan to be registered this year. We trust him and have signed with them. Renovation to commence after CNY!! So exciting!!

Leaving you guys with a view from our MBR! Sentosa on the left and the award winning Interlace on right.

[Malaxo 5]

I don't quite understand how do I post my photos without those links showing up. Any advice?

[sanguine 0]

Congrats, Malaxo! I also just got the keys to my resale flat this week and am excited to start reno. I have yet to finalise my contractor though.

The T-blogs are a bit quiet of late, guess not many people renovating this season. I shall be checking back on your blog!

[Malaxo 5]

Congrats Malaxo! I'm also waiting to completion for my resale in March.

Hi huiamos! It sure is an exciting wait isn't it!

Congrats, Malaxo! I also just got the keys to my resale flat this week and am excited to start reno. I have yet to finalise my contractor though.

The T-blogs are a bit quiet of late, guess not many people renovating this season. I shall be checking back on your blog!

Hi Sanguine! Yeah its been kinda quiet as I believe most of the hand overs have been done. Thanks for stopping by! Will post more updates when I meet J&E after this festive season.

[Dariusme 0]

Hi bro, can you PM me J&E contact as I saw many review abt them but could not find their contact. Thanks in advance

On 2/4/2016 at 9:58 PM, Malaxo said:

Like many first time owners, our source of inspiration came from Pinterest. We scoured Pinterest and looked up  to shortlist the IDs to meet up. With curious hearts and enthusiastic minds, we met up with the IDs.

K*** ID:

We met up with this firm as they did up my friend's place. L was a busy man, mainly coordinating commercial projects. I requested for him and was directed to their in-house designer, C. As C was from Hong Kong, she had ample suggestions on space planning to maximize our area. I was quite impressed by her creativity to take down one of the walls and use the back of the built in wardrobe as a feature wall. However, the quotation came up to almost 70k!! Spoke to L about this and asked him to review the quote and was told that the designer had overcharged us and that she was only staying till the end of the month. NOT IMPRESSED! Why would you direct me to someone who could not handle my whole project! L went up to the unit and made some measurements and came back with a second quote which came up to 54k. I felt that I had to lead in this project and could not trust them entirely with my home. Rejected.

D***** C*******:

We loved their grasp on scandinavian design and was blown away by their designs on ! We looked up reviews and contacted G. After speaking on the phone, we waited 1 week for quotation...but it never came. Followed up with G again on the 2nd week and was told to email him my requirements. He responded quickly and said that the quotation will be prepared and he will arrange for a 1st appointment. Never heard from him since. Rejected.

S**** D***** I*******:

We shortlisted this firm and looked for D upon reading reviews. Met up at their showroom and the first impression was that he had a lot of experience in this field. However, he wasn't attentive to our requirements as he had his idea of how scandinavian design should be and kept showing us pictures of his own home which he infused a touch of oriental with. Upon hearing our budget of 40k for our resale flat, he said that with 40k, we cannot get anything done as a BTO flat nowadays would already require 40k. RUDE MUCH. After leaving, we never heard back from him for the quotation after several prompts. Rejected.

U**** ID:

Was looking at  one afternoon and accidentally browsed through their profile. I have no idea which project caught my attention but when i mentioned them to le wifey, she was hesitant as by this time, it became quite time consuming and tiresome to meet up with IDs and repeat the same process again. Nevertheless, we went ahead to meet up with K & S since I had already made an appointment with them. Boy oh boy were we in for a ride! Like finding a gem! Upon first impression, you could see that K&S were very artistic and had a great sense of style. You could feel the camaraderie they both had and when one speaks, the other listens. They complimented each other very well and we made a second appointment for the following week. We were excited as we really clicked well with them and eagerly waited for the week to pass. Second appointment day, the table was filled with our moodboard!! They hand drawn the kitchen and masterbedroom and attached photos of what they feel would enhance the appeal of the house. Even the laminate colors were pasted on the moodboard! Impression . We were happy until we saw the quotation, came up to 60+k. Despite the price, we were very impressed by them and requested for site visitation to see their works.

From the site visit, you could tell that their attention to detail was superb! Quality of the carpentry was also good. In the end, we had to eliminate them due to the pricing

J&E:

This duo needs no introduction in the renotalk world. The famed duo that had rave reviews and I managed to get the contact from lovescandi. KUDOS TO YOU! We met up at the resale flat and they got to taking measurements up down left right. Suggesting some space planning tips and recommending the ideal length of our wardrobe. I love how they took into consideration the space if we decide to upgrade our bed to King size in the future. Quotation came in after a few days and it exceeded our budget by 5k. Met up with E again for further discussion on the quote and when he went back, he told me he forgot to include my hacking cost into his first quotation!! I trust that it was an oversight on his part as I know that they are VERY busy with MANY projects. After adding more stuffs, our final quotation came to 50k and for the amount of overhaul required, I would say that it is fair. E brought us to a few projects of his in the North East and I believe that one of the projects is dadajunior's! That brown Fino Vento fan. *Drools*.

E also mentioned that they are not yet HDB registered and plan to be registered this year. We trust him and have signed with them. Renovation to commence after CNY!! So exciting!!

Leaving you guys with a view from our MBR! Sentosa on the left and the award winning Interlace on right.

]">]http://www.renotalk.com/forum/gallery/image/12638-mbr-view/]

[Freb 10]

looking forward to ur reno! planning n shopping is the best part!

[Malaxo 5]

Hi bro, can you PM me J&E contact as I saw many review abt them but could not find their contact. Thanks in advance

Hi bro, PM-ed you.

[Malaxo 5]

looking forward to ur reno! planning n shopping is the best part!

Hey Freb! Have been following your T-blog and I can say you sure are meticulous! I hope I don't experience the same ruling issues you had!

[Malaxo 5]

MOODBOARD

We've spent HOURS browsing through Pinterest and , and reading SquareRoom magazines to get the exact feel of what we want in our house and finally decided not to stick to the usual Scandinavian designs. We wanted a design that would leave a lasting image and yet portray homeliness. Brick/Stucco walls were a huge no-no to us due to the maintenance issues (I'm just lazy to clean!). Finally, we decided on these! Super stoked to see them come to pass in the future!

Kitchen:

Blue Shaker Style Cabinets and Drawers

I wanted these as our kitchen backsplash but le wifey says that it is hard to maintain. Loving the unique prints on them lor.

Herringbone styled flooring

Living Room:

Feature wall and blue walls

Top and bottom casement shoe cabinet

[Malaxo 5]

We met E before our key collection and went to Hafary to choose the tiles we wanted for our kitchen and toilets. Choosing the kitchen tiles were a breeze as we already knew what we wanted. However, toilet tiles were a headache for us as we have seen too many designs and are lost on what we want the most!

We decided on wood grain tiles for the common bathroom with granite feature wall.

We couldn't decide on the tiles for MBR toilet and took a walk around Hafary to see the tiles, as we are visual creatures, we told E that we needed to look at the tiles and we would know which tiles to choose once we set our eyes on it! It is better to narrow down your choices or have a picture of what you want before heading down to select your tiles as there is a HUGE selection of tiles available and you'll only get more confused! In the end, le wifey decided on a set of tiles (I can't remember how it looks like now) and we both agreed that it'll look good!

And if you think tiles selection was a pain, wait till you reach the LAMINATE selection portion! The catalogue from TAK contained MANY options and textures. My ID friend also provided me a catalogue from CHAPTERZ (which E says I can also select from) which only launched their product in 2015. Their range was not as extensive but the laminates are from Italy or Japan and I am inclined to believe that these would be more lasting coz, made in Japan/Italy ma. The small square of sample laminates were really hard to imagine and we chose many samples for E to order from TAK so that we can have a better idea of how a full piece of laminate would look like using A4 samples.

Next up: The freehand master, J. (He somehow reminds me of PCK with his mole)

[dukebluedevil 1]

Malaxo, all the best for your reno!

what material are you planning to use for your herringbone floor?

My wife and I want such a design with vinyl but it would look awful given how large the vinyl planks are. Parquet is out of the question as its quite restrictive (high maintenance, low durability and non-water resistant).

[Malaxo 5]

Malaxo, all the best for your reno!

what material are you planning to use for your herringbone floor?

My wife and I want such a design with vinyl but it would look awful given how large the vinyl planks are. Parquet is out of the question as its quite restrictive (high maintenance, low durability and non-water resistant).

I'm using tiles for the herringbone design as it'll be in the kitchen and service yard. Waterproofing issues so no vinyl or parquet!

[Malaxo 5]

PLAN PLAN PLAN

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Its been hectic! Meeting up with J&E to discuss carpentry work, choosing of laminates, design ideas. Communication is key to every successful project and renovation is no different. Always ask to clarify and ensure that things are written down and agreed, be it on whatsapp or text messages. It is still a learning process for me as I often would do things based on trust, but the wifey insists that everything be agreed upon in black and white to prevent any disputes in the future.

After much discussion with Contractor J on the layout and the design ideas, he drew a sketch ON THE SPOT for every single room, including toilets, living rooms and kitchens. I would say that his freehand drawing is pretty much quite accurate in what we wanted and he gives very practical advise on designs such as allowance of space to upgrade to a King size bed in the future. Had our first discussion with electrician on our lighting plans and currently waiting for the electrical plans and 3D to be out this Saturday!

Hacking has just started today and E sent me pictures of the warzone in my unit. It is good that they send you updates daily to let you know the progress of your house. Some pictures before the hacking. Will post more this weekend!

Living Room

Kitchen

Common Bathroom

MBR

MBR Bathroom